Daily News Archive
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April 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on April 20, 2010
Maitland-Smith has announced the winners of its national "ONE Design Competition," which ran from October-mid December 2009.
Cecilia Staniec from Wexford, Pa., won "Best Professional Designer Submission" for her design of an entertainment center. She used Chablis Silver and Black Lacquer premium painted finishes, verdigris hardware and antique mirror to create a modern interpretation of one of Maitland-Smith's best selling items.
Steve Hodges, judge, said the piece was chosen as the winner out of more than 200 designer entries because it is "visually appealing and functional with nice lines and detail. Good choice of mixed media on essentially a traditional design."
Sandra Hankins of SH Designs in South Carolina won "Best Maitland-Smith Dealer/Designer Submission" for her design of a chest of drawers. Hankins made use of black and tortoise painted finishes with penshell to create a unique look. According to Barclay Butera, Sandra's piece was won out out of more than 100 dealer/designer entries because "this small chest has tons of detail and truly looks like an antique. The tortoise, black accents, tiger penshell, drawer and door combination make for a perfect entry piece. ... It is a stand-alone piece."
Dana Marpoe of Kernersville, N.C. won "Best Consumer Submission." Marpoe paints pet portraits, and won the hearts of the judges by creating an occasional table that used a contrast of Truffle Black and Irish White painted finishes with champagne silver hardware and black tooled leather top.
"Formal roots stretch to encompass transitional sensibilities, but the classical integrity of the original is never compromised," said one judge, Mark McMenamin. "The piece is completely transformed."
Cecilia Staniec of Pennsylvania also won the popular vote out of more than 900 submissions for her design of a four-poster bed. With more than 200 votes in an online poll that took place over a 10-day period in January, her piece was the undisputed winner. She created a bed that features black hair hide on the headboard, with Black Vendome and Irish White premium painted finishes.
The winners were honored at a cocktail reception at High Point Market, and their designs will be prominently displayed in the Maitland-Smith showroom throughout Market.
Each of the winners received their pieces, which were custom-made for them at no charge and had retail values ranging from $4,000 to $18,000.
The Maitland-Smith ONE Design Competition was held to celebrate the companys 30th anniversary. The contest generated almost 1,000 entries from across the United States and Canada and was designed to showcase Maitland-Smith's "ONE" customization tool.
"This was a very successful promotion that turned into a business development tool for us," said Dan Bradley, president of Maitland-Smith. "We received designs from so many people we had not done business with prior to the contest and as a result have made some terrific new contacts. And just as importantly, weve spread the word about how easy it is to use our new online customization tool to create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces."
April 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Accessories on April 20, 2010
High-end supplier Selva has joined with Italamp and Bevan Funnell to share showroom space in 200 Steele Building for the High Point Market.
With these three upscale brands in one showroom, retailers can experience a blended presentation of all three companies.
Known for incorporating cultures into the design of their products, Selva saw an opportunity to blend the Italamp and Bevan Funnell brands into the showroom.
Already established internationally, Bevan Funnell brings classic 18th Century English furniture to the room and Italamp offers elegant, inspired lighting solutions, fusing the three brands together with grace and style.
Our showroom has superior versatility and strength this Market, explains Philipp Selva, president and CEO Selva Co. High Point is known to be the ultimate home furnishings show for comprehensive product selection. Were proud that these two highly credible companies are collaborating with us to bring retailers the ultimate experience this High Point Market.
April 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Special Events on April 20, 2010
Samuelson Furniture, Paterson, N.J., celebrates 75 years in business this year serving the residential and hospitality markets.
The company began in 1935 as the Invincible Parlor Frame Company a maker of fine chair and sofa frames. Now in its fourth generation as a family business, Samuelson offers three distinct furniture lines, Delano, Invincible and Samuelson Contract.
The company has embraced a green initiative with the introduction of a verified sustainable contract upholstery program. And most recently, Samuelson contracted with Calvin Klein Home furniture to provide furniture for the brand's Curator Collection. The Curator Collection is Calvin Kleins high-end design oriented product line consisting of sophisticated bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture.
Samuelson remains true to its original focus: a family-run business built on solid principles and dedicated to creating the finest hand- crafted furniture built to last a lifetime.
The company will host a 75th anniversary celebration at the Samuelson showroom in High Point during Fall Market, as well as an event to coordinate with the Hospitality Design Show In Las Vegas. For more information, click here.
April 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on April 20, 2010
An fire early Monday morning that destroyed Global Wholesales in Custer, Wash., remained under investigation, the Bellingham Herald reported.
Flames already were coming through the roof of the structure, which was full of teak patio furniture.
No one was injured.
April 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on April 20, 2010
Wren Chest, a supplier of music chests, is branching out beyond the music room to reach a broader range of consumers.
"Originally, our chests were designed to provide a fine furniture replacement for the piano benches used to store sheet music, said Frank Robbins, president. "And we also sold chests to vocalists and instrumentalists. But now our present customers are telling us to expand our thinking to include storage for collectibles, keepsakes and vintage memorabiliascrapbooking, miniatures, animation art, knives and blades, watches, medals, tokens, paper money, archaeological artifacts, numismatic and philatelic needs and other collecting categories. Our new tagline says it all: Heirloom Quality Furniture for Music & Collectibles."
Wren is banking on the explosion in the hobby of collecting.
"Wren is targeting people who are into baseball card collecting, coin collecting, stamp collecting, postcard collecting, button collecting, photograph collecting, print collecting, map collecting, jewelry collecting, gem collecting, butterfly and insect collecting, autograph collecting and collecting (or organizing) keepsakes and just about any other small item, sheet of paper or craft that will fit in our different sized drawers including pet papers and pet memorabilia," Robbins said. "I even read recently about people who collect cat whiskers, but thats probably a very tiny group!
Wren was founded in 1993 and chests were created to match the finish of Steinway & Sons pianos and were sold to Steinway customers in piano stores before becoming available online.
"Our customers love their Wren Chests," Robbins said. They can be found in music rooms all over the country, in apartments and country cottages as well as in upscale homes where no expense has been spared."
The full line of Wren Chests can be seen
here.